Some operators in the maritime industry in Lagos have hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing former Rivers state governor Rotimi Amaechi as Minister of Transport.
A cross section of the operators made the commendation on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Capt. Peter Onwordi, Marine Surveyor, said that the president consulted widely before assigning the Transport Ministry to Amaechi.
He recalled that Amaechi did not only develop projects in the transport sector when he was governor of Rivers state, he also assisted women in the state to acquire taxis.
Onwordi urged the new minister to improve operations and safety in the transport sector at the national level.
He also urged Amaechi to engage the services of professionals to guide him on the `right part` to develop the maritime industry.
On his part, Mr Olu Akinsoji, a former Sole Administrator, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom, said that operators in the industry would wait to access the minister’s performance in office.
He said that he does not have a reference point to judge the new minister for now since Amaechi had not handled affairs in the transport sector at the national level before his appointment.
Mr Lucky Amiwero, the President, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), described Amaech’s appointment as `wonderful decision,’ saying the transport sector needed a tireless person with character to achieve optimum goal. (NAN)
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA)has urged the new Minister of Transport; Mr Rotimi Amaechi, to concentrate on shipping.
The President of NISA, Capt. Niyi Labinjo, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday.
He said Nigeria could realise from the shipping sector as much as between two to three trillion naira yearly.
The mariner explained that in terms of foreign exchange earnings, the nation could earn 15 to 20 billion dollars yearly, or even more.
The ship owner explained that shipping could also provide employment for well over one million Nigerians.
He advised that the focus should not, therefore, only be on the railways, stressing that it should be all-encompassing.
Labinjo said that if government ignored shipping investments, operators would be forced to go to Ghana, Equitorial Guinea or Angola, or any other country.
He said that past ministers of transport focused attention only on the railways, saying that “past ministers of transport saw shipping as belonging to the foreigners ‘’.
The mariner said government should take into consideration that in the shipping business, the operator would pay taxes, create employment and provide ancillary businesses for Nigerians.
He said Nigeria should learn from Singapore, where everybody “is into shipping’’.
“Singapore has a population of over 100 million people. It has no single drop of oil and has just six per cent of what Nigeria has in terms of water frontage.
“The Philippines also relies a lot on shipping, ’’ Labinjo told NAN.
He described the new minister as an intelligent Nigerian and a goal-getter.
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